Organizer Libertad Ayala heads up the rally in front of UCI Medical Center. Sympathy strikers, elected officials, students and others joined nearly 13,000 patient-care technical workers in the U.C. hospital system on the picket line during a rally held at UCI Medical Center on Tuesday. KAREN TAPIA, FOR THE REGISTER

The first day of a 48-hour strike drew hundreds of active pickets. The strike organizers put the number of workers who had joined the walkout as of late Tuesday afternoon at about 700; UCI Medical Center said it was closer to 400. The striking workers carried signs and marched up and down The City Drive in front of the hospital, chanting: "UCI, you're no good; treat your workers like you should."

Other employees, showing up for work, walked past the picket line toward the main entrance. Some of them had been ordered by a California Superior Court judge on Monday not to join the strike. Scores of others, including kitchen workers, dieticians and nursing assistants, decided on their own not to join the strike, said John Murray, the medical center's spokesman.

The event, which was peaceful, included speeches by union officials, medical center employees and students from UC Irvine, who marched alongside the striking workers.

The walkout in Orange is part of a strike by nearly 13,000 patient-care workers at five UC medical centers across the state, organized by their union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Some of the 3,300 UC health workers belonging to another union, University Professional and Technical Employees, also joined the strike, as did a group of service employees.

The striking workers include pharmacists, respiratory therapists, radiation and imaging technicians, laboratory scientists and vocational nurses. Doctors and registered nurses are not involved.

Some of the workers on the picket line in front of UCI Medical Center said they were overworked because of what they described as staffing shortages that endanger patient safety. Others expressed anger about a new UC pension plan in which employees hired after July 1 – and current ones whose age plus years of service adds up to less than 50 – will receive more restricted retirement benefits.

Josie Bueno, 38, who works as a licensed vocational nurse, said there was "chronic understaffing" at the hospital. "We're here for the patients. But unfortunately, they're not giving us the option to have proper staffing," she said.

Veronica Ramos, 26, who works in the hospital's medical billing department, said the new pension plan was "the whole thing" for her. "I want them to continue with the way the retirement plan was," she said.

Dianne Klein, a UC spokeswoman, said the statewide system has a $24 billion pension fund liability that it must find a way to pay for. "People are living longer, so we have to have more money to pay out pensions," and it is "an expensive benefit," she said.

Murray, the UCI Medical Center spokesman, dismissed workers' assertions of understaffing. He said that since 2008, hiring in job categories represented by AFSCME has increased by 21.6 percent at the hospital. "As our daily patient volume has increased, so has our hiring of people who take care of patients."

Murray said nine operating rooms were open Tuesday, compared with 15 on normal days. And 24 surgeries were completed or scheduled to take place, compared with 36 to 40 on an average day, he said. Ambulances carrying all but the most gravely injured or ill patients will continue to be diverted to other hospitals until Thursday.

Keith Snodgrass, a union spokesman, said that if there is not "more movement" by UC officials after this week's strike, "there will definitely be more actions."

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Organizer Libertad Ayala heads up the rally in front of UCI Medical Center. Sympathy strikers, elected officials, students and others joined nearly 13,000 patient-care technical workers in the U.C. hospital system on the picket line during a rally held at UCI Medical Center on Tuesday. KAREN TAPIA, FOR THE REGISTER
Heavy equipment operator Leo Tolliver, 56, of Riverside joins in during a noon rally outside UCI Medical Center. Tolliver is a single father with a 13-year old son and works at the UCI campus in Irvine. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Sympathy strikers, elected officials, students and others joined nearly 13,000 patient-care technical workers in the U.C. hospital system on the picket line during a rally held at UCI Medical Center on Tuesday. KAREN TAPIA, FOR THE REGISTER
Heavy equipment operator Leo Tolliver, 56, of Riverside joins in during a noon rally with his son Leo Jr. Tolliver, a single father with a 13-year-old son, works at the UCI campus in Irvine. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A hospital employee waits to cross the street as she arrives for work in the middle of hundreds of demonstrators during a strike of patient-care and technical workers at UCI Medical Center in Orange on Tuesday. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
X-ray technician Raylene Warren, 38, of Irvine joins in during a rally as hundreds of patient care and technical workers demonstrate over staffing and pension issues at UCI Medical Center in Orange Tuesday. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers spearheaded the strike by its nearly 13,000 medical workers at five University of California medical centers across the state. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
AFSCME members walk off their jobs to protest over pensions and what they say is hospital understaffing that compromises the quality of patient care at UCI Medical Center in Orange on Tuesday. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
X-ray technician Raylene Warren, 38, of Irvine joins hundreds of patient care and technical workers as they demonstrate over staffing and pension issues at UCI Medical Center in Orange Tuesday. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A motorist passes hundreds of patient-care and technical workers as they demonstrate at UCI Medical Center in Orange on Tuesday during a planned strike over pensions and what they say is hospital understaffing that compromises the quality of patient care. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A hospital employee waits to cross the street as she arrives for work in the middle of hundreds as they demonstrate during a strike of patient care and technical workers at UCI Medical Center in Orange Tuesday. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A.J. Blackwood, chairperson of the Progressive Interfaith Alliance in Orange County, speaks to the hundreds of pickets during a rally held in front of UCI Medical Center on Tuesday. KAREN TAPIA, FOR THE REGISTER
Organizer Libertad Ayala heads up the rally in front of UCI Medical Center. Sympathy strikers, elected officials, students and others joined nearly 13,000 patient-care technical workers in the U.C. hospital system on the picket line during a rally held at UCI Medical Center on Tuesday. The strike comes after nearly a year of stalled negotiations with U.C. administrators over a range of issues, including patient safety, staffing levels at hospitals, and compensation packages for U.C. health executives. KAREN TAPIA, FOR THE REGISTER
Organizer Libertad Ayala heads up the rally in front of UCI Medical Center. KAREN TAPIA, FOR THE REGISTER
A passer-by in a van gives a thumbs-up to those who joined nearly 13,000 patient-care technical workers on the picket line during a rally held Tuesday at UCI Medical Center. KAREN TAPIA, FOR THE REGISTER
Strikers cheer on speakers during a rally held during the picket line during a rally held at UCI Medical Center. The strike comes after nearly a year of stalled negotiations with U.C. administrators over a range of issues, including patient safety, staffing levels at hospitals, and compensation packages for U.C. health executives. KAREN TAPIA, FOR THE REGISTER
Strikers and supporters during a rally held at UCI Medical Center on Tuesday. KAREN TAPIA, FOR THE REGISTER
Ken Deitz, president of the United Nurses Association of California, speaks to the hundreds of pickets during a rally in front of UCI Medical Center on Tuesday. Supporters joined nearly 13,000 patient-care and technical workers in the U.C. hospital system on the picket line during a rally held at UCI Medical Center. KAREN TAPIA, FOR THE REGISTER
Demonstrators strive for the attention of OCTA passengers as hundreds protest during a strike of patient care and technical workers at UCI Medical Center in Orange Tuesday. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers spearheaded the strike by its nearly 13,000 medical workers at five University of California medical centers across the state. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Demonstrators try for the attention of a motorist as hundreds protest during a strike of patient care and technical workers at UCI Medical Center in Orange Tuesday. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Demonstrators are watched by UCI Senior Security Officer Sgt. Marc Beauregard as hundreds protest along The City Drive during a strike of patient care and technical workers at UCI Medical Center in Orange Tuesday. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Antonio Alvarez, a medical assistant, of Huntington Beach joins his union workers as hundreds of patient care and technical workers demonstrate over staffing and pension issues at UCI Medical Center in Orange. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Billing processor Leticia Andaya of Riverside gets her fellow union workers fired up at UCI Medical Center in Orange Tuesday. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Maria Valdez, a nursing assistant from Garden Grove, expresses herself with her own words a union strike at UCI Medical Center in Orange. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Mitsi Calderon, a patient financial counselor of Garden Grove, and Orange resident J. V. Animas-Lopez, from pre-admissions laugh together as they dance to music during a demonstration at UCI Medical Center in Orange. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Hundreds of patient care and technical workers demonstrate over staffing and pension issues at UCI Medical Center in Orange Tuesday. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Administration worker Erika Peralta of Santa Ana gets her fellow union workers fired up outside UCI Medical Center in Orange Tuesday. KEN STEINHARDT, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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